It usually begins with Ayn Rand
Jonathan Chait’s essay on Ayn Rand is worth a read. Given the rise of the tea party movement, his basic point – that Rand’s influence has led to an over-emphasis on a morally absolutist...
Daily Archive: September 14, 2009
Chait on Rand
This essay from Jon Chait, on Ayn Rand and the continuing domination of the politics of taxation grievance on conservatism, is important and true. The essential takeaway, besides a thoroughly fair but damning discussion...
The “Beatles or Stones?” of Russian literature.
I hate to all the time be talking about David B. Hart, the theologian, but his writing is too good to go unremarked. Today, at First Things, he’s taken on that perennial question: Dostoevsky...
Inglourious Basterds (spoiler alert)
[updated again] (Read on only if you’ve seen the film or don’t intend to see it. The post assumes the reader has also seen the movie.) Tyler Cowen didn’t like Tarantino’s latest: Tarantino made...
Two good articles on rationing and end-of-life care
Evan Thomas and Will Wilkinson have some interesting things to say on the subject of healthcare. The genius at Newsweek who decided on “The Case for Killing Granny” as a title needs a crash...
quote of the day
“So we’ve got beliefs P and Q. Let’s say Q is “obviously unreasonable” by virtue of beliefs R(1), R(2), R(3), and so forth, when taken as a set. Let’s leave aside considerations of individual...
no laughing matter
Christopher Hitchens takes a shot at Jon Stewart, Al Franken, and Stephen Colbert. Too much of his piece relies on cherry-picking, if you ask me.
Wall of Shame – the September 14, 2008 edition
The moral of the story is that if you’re going to get it wrong, get it ALL wrong. Does anyone remember reading this and wondering what planet he was on? Not only was he...
School reform in DC
Merit pay’s out, but teacher job security may still take a hit. Here’s The Washington Post on the final round of contract negotiations between DC and the teachers union (via):
